Tag: bahrain

F1 2014: Bahrain Free Practice 1 Results – Hamilton On Top

Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two at the first free practice session for the 2014 Bahrain grand prix.

The Bahrain GP celebrates its tenth appearance on the Formula 1 calendar this weekend and will host its first ever night race. The first one and a half hour practice session remained fairly uneventful throughout. There was encouraging signs from the Lotus F1 Team who managed to rack up a substantial number of laps without any issues. However, it was the Mercedes team that once again dominated the timing sheets ahead of Sunday’s third round of the 2014 F1 season.

Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari held the fastest time for a short period of time before being pushed down to third overall. Several teams ended there practice sessions before the chequered flag came out. The suggestion was that the most valuable information would be gained in the second practice session; as the condition will be more akin to what qualifying and race conditions are likely to be.

A peculiar lapse of concentration by the Ferrari team saw Fernando Alonso leave the pitlane with three medium and one soft compound tyre on his car. The Spaniard stopped his car in the pitlane and was wheeled back into the garage by his mechanics. Some familiar faces graced the paddock during FP1 from Jean Alesi to Rod Smedley who has joined the Williams team from Ferrari.

Several reserve drivers also got some track time in Bahrain. Amongst them were Felipe Nasr for Williams, Robin Frijns for Caterham and Giedo van der Garde for Sauber.

April 4, 2014
Second Bahrain Test: Day 1: Driver Quotes

Force India’s Sergio Perez set the pace on Day 1 of the final Bahrain test with a time of 1:35.290, almost a full second clear of second fastest man, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. Here are some quotes from the drivers after the first day of the second Bahrain test

Sergio Perrez(1:35.290) | Force India-Mercedes | 105 laps: “We really needed a good day to start this week and today we had it. We managed to do a lot of laps, try several different compounds and mappings, and it’s been a fantastic day in terms of learning about the car. Tomorrow is my last day in the car before the season starts so hopefully we can have another solid day to be in good shape for Melbourne.”

Valtteri Bottas(1:36.184) | Williams-Mercedes | 128 laps: “It’s been another good day for us and it was nice to get the whole run plan done. We didn’t have any issues all day so well done to all the team for getting the car running so well. We have a lot of data to analyse tonight after doing some aero work this morning and a race distance and set-up work this afternoon. We did some very interesting tests and there are still plenty of things to improve so we’ll keep pushing.”

Kimi Raikkonen(1:36.432) | Ferrari | 54 laps: “Before I leave Sakhir, it’s planned that I should do a race distance and that’s the only thing I’m missing. Today we chose to concentrate on some of the many things we still have to work on and we won’t assess the winter testing until the final day, when we will put together all the data we have gathered. What I can say is that I have been through worse winters than this.

We have been on different programmes and I don’t think you can judge a car’s potential from how many laps it does in testing. We have a lot of things to test and we want to make the most of these days to check everythting, because the race weekend doesn’t last long and the hours on Friday fly by, while on the other days you are only looking for performance.”

Nico Rosberg(1:36.624) | Mercedes | 89 laps: “That was not a fantastic day for us. We tried some new parts on the car and you find out a lot doing that. But unfortunately we did not only discover good things today. I managed to do a couple of good laps before lunch but in the afternoon we had a few small problems which ended my running a bit earlier than planned. This shows that we are pushing everything to the limit and we still have a massive challenge in front of us during the last three days of testing. We need to maximise our time here to be prepared for Melbourne. But after a difficult day overall we are on the right path.”

Daniel Ricciardo(1:37.908) | Red Bull-Renault | 39 laps: ” This morning was much better for us with a few longer runs. Behind the wheel, that’s the best I’ve felt so far. The package seems to be coming together better. We still had a few issues today, but at least when the car was on track it was much more useful running and we made progress in the morning. It’s getting there. I’d love to keep going, but at leas Seb has two days after me in the car, so I think we’ll be looking pretty good for the next three days.”

Daniil Kvyat(1:39.242) | Toro Rosso-Renault | 55 laps: “It was nice to be in the car, even if we didn’t get through the entire programme we had planned for today. However, I feel we have made some progress. We ran the Hard Pirelli most of the time, as we were definitely not chasing performance today. I hope Jev manages to get a full day’s running tomorrow, before I drive again on Saturday.”

Included is the unofficial timesheet for the day’s session:

Photo Credits

Title Photo: Sahara Force India Formula One Team

Article Photo: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team

February 27, 2014
Bahrain Pre Season Test Preview

The second of three pre-season tests and the first one in Bahrain. The teams are swapping the cold conditions of the Spanish winter for some warm desert air at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Some say the serious testing starts now with just two more tests left. The first test in Jerez was like a shakedown for the teams and drivers to come to grips with the new engines and the new rules. The real work starts this week. Teams will be testing all sorts of components on the cars, engine settings, and aerodynamic and balance setups. They will try to learn as much as they can about their cars in the next three days.

The Mercedes and Ferrari powered teams enjoyed the bulk of the laps at the Jerez test with a combined 875 laps for the Mercedes powered teams and 444 laps for the Ferrari powered teams. Compare this to the Renault powered teams who could only manage 151 laps over the four days.

There’s no doubt that the Renault powered teams are playing catch up at Bahrain. With Red Bull admitting packaging issues with the car and with Renault behind with the fixes to the issues on their power units, Red Bull do have their work cut out for them. But that’s not to say that the other teams will have it easy.

We will finally get to see the Lotus E22 in Bahrain. After running it for a filming day at Jerez with reportedly no problems, the team will no doubt be itching to get the car on track to see what it has to offer.

Pirelli will bring their 2014 specification tyres to Bahrain with three new slick compounds, the hard, medium and soft compounds and also a special “winter” hard compound. Pirelli say that the “winter” hard compound was created to ensure rapid warm up of the tyre even during low temperatures. This compound was initially designed for Jerez, but Pirelli had asked the teams to test it in Bahrain for them to asses how the tyre performs in higher temperatures. In anticipation for the 2015 rules, Pirelli have also brought along am extra set of medium compound tyres, which are 2014 specification but are considered prototypes. These tyres will be tested without using tyre warmers which will be banned from 2015.

The weather in Bahrain will be sunny and mild for the week with temperatures hovering in the mid-to-low 20s. Not as warm as it usually is when the Bahrain Grand Prix takes place, but considerably warmer than Jerez which should give the teams a good indication of the performance of the tyres.

February 18, 2014
Bahrain Grand Prix Twilight Start Time Confirmed

It was confirmed earlier today by the FIA that the Bahrain Grand Prix will have a 18:00 (17:00 GMT+2) local start time.

After an announcement last year that the Bahrain Grand Prix will take place under floodlights, work at the Bahrain international circuit got underway to line the circuit with floodlights. Like the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Bahrain Grand Prix will start at twilight and end at night.

The FIA also confirmed a 15:00 (13:00 GMT+2) local start time for the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi.

February 10, 2014
Lotus reveals sneak pic of the E22

Lotus today released an image of their 2014 challenger – the E22 just as the launch of McLaren’s MP4-29 got underway.

While all eyes were on Woking, the Enstone based team decided to steal a little of the limelight in the wake of the announcement of team boss Eric Boullier’s departure. The team announced earlier today that Boullier will be replaced by Gerard Lopez and the Frenchman is expected to be headed for McLaren.

Lotus’ image of the E22 reveals a two-pronged, tusk-like solution to the front nose tip height regulations where other teams so far have revealed anteater-like / finger solutions.

Despite the surprise rendered E22 image from Lotus, it has already been confirmed that they will not be present at the first pre-season test at Jerez and will instead make its debut in Bahrain next month.

January 24, 2014
Complete Test Schedule

First Test Session*:

28 Jan Circuito Permanente de Jerez

29 Jan Circuito Permanente de Jerez

30 Jan Circuito Permanente de Jerez

31 Jan Circuito Permanente de Jerez

Second Test Session:

19 Feb Bahrain International Circuit

20 Feb Bahrain International Circuit

21 Feb Bahrain International Circuit

22 Feb Bahrain International Circuit

Third Test Session:

27 Feb Bahrain International Circuit

28 Feb Bahrain International Circuit

Fourth Test Session:

1 Mar Bahrain International Circuit

2 Mar Bahrain International Circuit

*The Lotus F1 Team has announced that it will not attend the first test session.

January 21, 2014
Lotus to Skip First Test of 2014

The Lotus F1 Team revealed that they will skip the first test in Jerez that is due to take place on 28 January.

Lotus F1 Technical Director, Nick Chester, said that they plan to launch the E22 at the Bahrain test in more representative conditions.

“We’re going to keep our car under wraps a little longer than some other teams. We’ve decided that attending the Jerez test isn’t ideal for our build and development programme. We are likely to unveil the car before attending the Bahrain tests, and in Bahrain we should really be able to put the car through its paces in representative conditions.”

Although Lotus will miss the first test, Chester made it clear that the car is all but complete with just the nose crash test to complete.

“We’ve made very good progress with the various homologation tests which took place before Christmas including chassis squeeze and side impact loading tests as well as the rear crash structure, meaning we just have the nose test to complete the car’s homologation.”

“We’ve undertaken chassis fits for Romain and Pastor. Certainly, our partners who have seen the car have reported themselves to be very impressed with the layout and various solutions to the new technical challenges.”

Missing out on the first test will put Lotus on the backfoot but Chester was optimistic that they will be able to get what they want out of the car at the second test in Bahrain/

“From our perspective the figures look promising and development has been positive. That said, we are very much working with very little idea of what the other teams are doing. This is the first year of radically different regulations which means that all teams are developing their cars along potentially quite different avenues.”

“It’s fascinating for us engineers and I hope it is fascinating for the fans too. We think we have a very good solution to the challenge and hopefully this will be seen when the E22 turns its wheels in anger.”

January 6, 2014
Full driver line-up for Bahrain tyre test confirmed

The full driver line-up for this week’s Pirelli tyre test in Bahrain has been confirmed.

The three day tyre test is set to get underway on Tuesday and end on Thursday and will see teams testing using their 2013 cars. All 11 teams were invited to the tyre test but only six agreed to participate. McLaren and Force India however later decided to withdraw. Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and Toro Rosso will be on track to put Pirelli’s 2014 tyres through their paces. The running plans however, will be dictated by Pirelli as they gather data for next season.

World champions Red Bull, will be making use of test driver Sebastien Buemi while Toro Rosso will give Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat one and a half days of running each.

Ferrari confirmed that they will be using their development driver Pedro De la Rosa for two days and that Marussia driver Jules Bianchi will take part in one day of the tyre test.

Mercedes were last to confirm their driver line-up and will be using only Nico Rosberg for the tyre test.

December 17, 2013
Pirelli confirm four teams for Bahrain tyre test

Pirelli have confirmed that four teams will take part in the Bahrain tyre test next week.

Following confirmation that both McLaren and Force India have withdrawn from the test because of the short timeframe between the test and the FIA’s confirmation that it may go ahead.

The FIA gave the tyre test the go ahead on Monday night, when they also announced major rule changes for 2014 and 2015.

A McLaren spokesperson said simply, “We are not testing in Bahrain next week.”

A Force India spokesperson added, “Given the short notice of this test taking place and the time frames involved, the team will not be attending the test.”

The teams who will now take place in the Bahrain tyre test for Pirelli are Red Bull Racing, Mercedes, Ferrari and Toro Rosso.

The test will run from 17-19 December.

December 12, 2013
FIA announces major changes to 2014 regulations

The FIA has announced some major changes to the regulations of the sport including Double points at the final race of the season; Permanent driver numbers; A 5 second penalty for minor infringements and a cost cap in 2015.

Double Points to be awarded at Final Race

In a rather controversial move, the FIA announced that double drivers’ and constructor’s points will be awarded at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. The change means that 50 points will be allocated to the winner of the final round of 2014, rather than the usual 25.

The FIA have stated that the change was immediately applicable and would “maximise focus on the championship until the end of the campaign”.

There is little doubt that this could most certainly carry the championship through to the final round – if this change had been implemented in previous years, Kimi Raikkonen would have been champion in 2003 instead of Michael Schumacher, and Felipe Massa would have beaten Lewis Hamilton in 2008. Fernando Alonso would have been the 2012 champion instead of Sebastian Vettel.

Permanent Driver Numbers

In a less controversial move, a unanimous agreement was given during a meeting of the F1 Strategy Group and the Formula One Commission in Paris on Monday, to introduce permanent driver numbers.

“Drivers will be asked to choose their race number, between 2 and 99, for the duration of their career in the FIA Formula One World Championship,” said the FIA statement. “Number 1 will be reserved for the current World Champion, should he choose to use it.”

Should more than one driver chose the same number, priority will be given to the driver who finished highest in the previous year’s championship.

Five Second Penalty

The principle of a five-second penalty for minor infringements was also accepted for the 2014 season. Teams will still meet to discuss how it should be applied before the penalty system is implemented at the start of the season.

Global Cost Cap for 2015

The principle of a global cost cap has been adopted and the limit will be applied from January 2015.

A working group will be established within the coming days comprising of the FIA, representatives of the Commercial Rights Holder and Team representatives. The objective of this working group will be to have regulations approved by the end of June 2014.

Pirelli December tyre test

The FIA has also approved the Pirelli tyre test which will be staged next week in Bahrain. Six teams have agreed to take part – Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Force India and Toro Rosso.

Immediate Effect

The FIA stated that these “changes are immediately applicable, given the mandate assigned to the FIA President at the last World Motor Sport Council meeting, held on 4 December in Paris”.

December 10, 2013